Ze Tian Ji (Way of Choices)

As the sunlight shone onto the young lady's face, her delicate and pretty, yet far from being described as beautiful, appearance suddenly seemed to grow brighter and more beautiful.

As she calmly looked at the distant sun, she thought of all the matters that she had encountered after entering the Garden of Zhou. In her heart, she had probably finished her assessment.

At this moment, one of the maidens of the Thirteen Divisions of Radiant Green came over to her and whispered, "That person's injuries are too severe, Senior… "

The young lady nodded and indicated that the maiden should leave first, she would come soon after.

The maiden from the Thirteen Divisions of Radiant Green returned to room, then, disregarding the protests of the injured cultivator's compatriots, had everyone exit the room.

Only after this did the young lady go inside. Two of the maidens from the Thirteen Divisions of Radiant Green were attempting to treat the injured cultivator, but his injuries were truly too severe. The commonly used treatment methods of the Li Palace were lacking in effectiveness. Despite the efforts of the two maidens, they were still incapable of stemming the blood spilling from the wound in the abdomen.

Seeing the young lady arrive, the maidens suddenly breathed a sigh of relief and they hurriedly moved aside for her.

The young lady walked over to the injured cultivator, then after taking two glances, she raised her right hand and placed it in the air above the wound.

A faint green light fell from her palm. Like flowing water, except even gentler, it incessantly fell from her palm onto the wounded cultivator's body.

The gaping wound which had been spilling blood nonstop suddenly ceased bleeding.

Soon after, the beam of light falling from that young lady's palm changed colors from a joyful and refreshing green to a holy and dignified milky white.

The pure white beam of light touched the cultivator's abdomen, and the terrifying wound slowly began to close up.

"The Garden of Zhou… has a problem. I suspect that the gate to the garden has been closed. In a little bit, choose the fastest from amongst those cultivators to go to the gate and see."

That young lady stood up and said to the other girls, "After I leave, you all should light two fireworks. I believe that all the cultivators in the mountains and by the river should be able to see them."

Regardless of it was the Holy Maiden Peak or the Thirteen Divisions of Radiant Green, on the battlefield, they both had always used fireworks to communicate. To cultivators as well as human soldiers, these two fireworks were hope. Although this place was inside the Garden of Zhou, when those injured cultivators whose gray strings had failed to bring them out of the garden saw the two fireworks, they would probably try and make their way to the Mountainside Whispering Wood.

One of the maidens of the Thirteen Divisions of Radiant Green that was slightly older than the rest asked the young lady with some concern, "Senior, what are you planning to do?"

"I have some things that I need to do." The young lady calmly stated, then she turned and departed.

The maidens from the Thirteen Divisions of Radiant Green could only look in silence as the young lady's back disappeared into the depths of the garden.

Only after a moment did people begin to discuss the miraculous event that they had just witnessed.

One of the maidens said in admiration, "That was the Sacred Light Technique, wasn't it? I couldn't have imagined that Senior, despite her young age, could have mastered the Sacred Light Technique to such a level! It seems to me that perhaps not even teacher would be able to do that."

"The latter was the Sacred Light Technique. At the beginning, she probably used Holy Maiden Peak's Natural Light."

The maiden that was slightly older than the rest smiled. "Senior first studied at our school for a while, then she went to Holy Maiden Peak to cultivate. Growing up in both the north and the south, naturally she's not ordinary."

As the night approached, the Garden of Zhou became somewhat chilly. In the foothills, it was even colder.

The white robes of the Thirteen Divisions of Radiant Green were somewhat thick, able to keep out the wind and protect against the cold. The young lady was not worried about those things. As she seemingly casually strolled through the mountains and fields, in reality, she was searching for the cultivators that had entered the garden.

She held the same view as Chen Changsheng and Qi Jian. An even more powerful force would still be incapable of changing the rules of the Garden of Zhou, so the closing of the gate was most likely a temporary matter. The problem lay in the fact that the sudden closing of the gate presented many dangers to the several hundred cultivators in the garden. These dangers came from the human cultivators themselves as well as from other places.

At the previous cliff, she had encountered a student from Star Seizer Academy. The student had not been injured from battle, rather he had experienced a problem with circulating his true essence and he had fallen off the cliff. Even a body that had undergone Purification was unable to resist the force of the fall from such great height and his bones had been broken in many places. If she had not seen him, then perhaps the only thing that he would have been able to do was wait for his death.

The night gradually set in and the mountain forest grew somewhat gloomy. In the distance, one could make out the faint glows of bonfires. It would seem that many cultivators had realized that something was strange and they no longer feared attracting competitors. They were only thinking about finding companions as fast as possible, and right now any person in the Garden of Zhou could be considered a companion.

The young lady headed towards the closest fire, and her white robes fluttering lightly in the night.

In the darkness of the Garden of Zhou, the most eye-catching objects were the glimmers of the bonfires. It was just that some of the bonfires were very difficult to see, perhaps because they were too far away.

Chen Changsheng and Zhexiu walked out of the mountain forest. Chen Changsheng spied a bonfire on a hill not too far away and said, "We'll start with the closest. No need to rush."

Zhexiu said nothing. As a descendent of the wolf tribe, the trait that he lacked the least was patience.

Chen Changsheng quickly realized this and he felt somewhat embarrassed. Then he remembered something else. "There are probably still many magical artifacts to be found in the Garden of Zhou. Coming with me, don't you feel like you're losing out?"

Zhexiu replied, "And you? Are you telling me that you don't feel like you're losing out?"

Chen Changsheng replied, "When I think about how the Mount Li Sword Sect very likely knows the exact location of the Sword Pool and that Liang Xiaoxiao and Qi Jian are right now heading there, and when I think about how even Zhuang Huanyu might have already found it, of course… I still somewhat care about it. It's just that tonight, there are most definitely many people that have been injured, even on the verge of death. I can't just leave them be."

Zhexiu stared into his eyes and gravely asked him, "Why can't you leave them be?"

For this wolf youth that had grown up in the cruel snowy plains, every kindness was a weakness. He really did not understand why humans as well as some demihuman… simply could not let things be.

"Is it a sort of woman's kindheartedness?"

Chen Changsheng pondered the question, then replied, "It's that I can't bear to leave it be."

After a moment of silence, Zhexiu replied, "The responsibility of an expert is to make themselves more powerful, so that they can better protect the weak."

Chen Changsheng honestly admitted, "… maybe I don't have the consciousness of an expert? Besides, since the Li Palace has handed these people over to me, I have to assume some responsibility over them. In addition, it seems that I'm the only that can treat injuries amongst these people."

Zhexiu said no more.

Chen Changsheng asked, "You still haven't answered my question."

Zhexiu replied, "Tang Tang paid in advance, so I'm your bodyguard."

Chen Changsheng thought about his friend who was still in the Mausoleum of Books, then he thought about the Yellow Paper Umbrella, then regretfully said, "Being rich is really great."

Zhexiu added on at the end, "In addition, I feel that if I go with you, I won't be missing out."

As they talked, the pair didn't slow their speed at all. In a short time, they had arrived at the top of that hill. They saw the bonfire, as well as the people beside it.

From their clothes, those two cultivators were likely from the south. For some reason, they had battled with each other, and the end result was that neither side had won and both of them were covered with numerous wounds.

What most mystified Chen Changsheng was that these two cultivators were both sound asleep, the wounds on their bodies had already healed. If it were not for the bloodstains on their clothes, it would have been impossible to tell that they had been wounded.

He walked over to the two cultivators and took their pulses, then he opened their eyes and closely examined them. Lastly, he lifted their clothes to examine the state of their wounds.

Although the wounds of the two were not completely smoothed over, it was clear that they were clear of any major obstacles. In addition, their deep sleep was most likely because they had sniffed some Spirit-Pacifying Incense, which would aid in their recovery.

"A senior from the Thirteen Divisions of Radiant Green has given them Desistance Incense."

Chen Changsheng stood up and said to Zhexiu, "Since there's someone else going around saving lives, we can relax a little."

Zhexiu shook his head, "It's not the Thirteen Divisions of Radiant Green."

Chen Changsheng's expression became a little strange. Thinking to himself, as a person well-versed in the Daoist Canon, he was very familiar with the handiwork of the Thirteen Divisions of Radiant Green. For the wounds on those two southern cultivators to recover so quickly could only be accomplished by the Orthodoxy's Sacred Light Art. There were even the remnants of Sacred Qi around the wounds. So why is it that Zhexiu said that this was not the work of the Thirteen Divisions of Radiant Green?

The Orthodoxy's Sacred Light technique was extremely difficult to cultivate. The level of Sacred Light technique he had just seen was something that only a dozen or so bishops within the Li Palace could demonstrate. Therefore, he had guessed that the person that healed these two cultivators was probably rather advanced, which is why he had called her a senior. It was even very likely that she was a female instructor. It was probably the case that Chen Changsheng had not been paying attention closely enough when entering the garden, so he had not seen her.

"It truly was the Sacred Light technique that healed the wounds, but the smell of the spirit-pacifying incense is wrong. It's not the Thirteen Divisions of Radiant Green's Desistance Incense, but rather the Holy Maiden Peak's most rarely produced Stainless Dust."

Zhexiu expressionlessly said to him, "The first incense I have smelled many times, while the latter I have only smelled once. There is no way I would forget it, so there's no way that I'm wrong."

Only now did Chen Changsheng remember that while Zhexiu hunted demons in the snowy plains of the north, he would also often undertake extremely dangerous missions for the Great Zhou Army. Who knows how many times he had lingered on the edge of life and death? There were probably few people more qualified than him to discuss these two holy grounds of healing that were the Thirteen Divisions of Radiant Green and Holy Maiden Peak.

"Knows the Sacred Light technique, and also carries the Stainless Dust on their body… who could it be?"

He said this out loud, but in his heart, he wondered, to have grown up in both the northern and southern sects, this senior would clearly be rather extraordinary. But would such a senior really remain in Ethereal Opening?

Zhexiu stared wordlessly at him.

Somewhat uneasy, Chen Changsheng asked, "Why are you staring at me?"

Zhexiu looked into Chen Changsheng's eyes and asked, "Do you really not know or are you just acting stupid?"

Chen Changsheng stared blankly at him, then understood, after which he continued to stare blankly at him.

One of the important reasons that which he entered the Garden of Zhou was to meet that young lady and then personally return the marriage contract.

It was only that so many things had occurred after entering the garden that he had actually forgotten the matter, forgotten that she was also inside the Garden of Zhou.

To grow up in the sects of the South and the North, to cultivate the Sacred Light technique to such a high level at Ethereal Opening, and then to also carry the precious Stainless Dust. In these past years, it seemed as though the only person to match those conditions on the continent was only her?

Somewhat helpless, he said to Zhexiu, "It can't be, right?"

Zhexiu impassively replied, "It is."

Chen Changsheng said no more, instead, he turned to the dark mountains and fields. He thought about how she had probably also stood in this spot, stood by the same fire. For some reason, his mind felt somewhat strange.

"Let’s go?" Zhexiu asked.

Chen Changsheng suddenly turned to the two southern cultivators, took out his needles, and he began to treat them.

Zhexiu was somewhat confused. Since Xu Yourong has already treated them, what need was there for him to do so as well?